Little Falls transcript. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1876-1894, 1887-09-02
Oh AM,
Is CASE lAifiEa suPEneTfrloN
souARED WITH Is FACTS


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luane Camp Ono CsAn ShoRt'' 50 tho
.5S Fur.r.i.
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W vas q the old y olupi,le camp when
things had jast bsgnn 70 boom q - rich
stlikes that Sons q the lucky ones I'D made
had eslcnuraged ne restio " 20 hang ON.
TIC Jumping Jehoshaphat claim had got In
rome q the new tangled powder and WINS
plastlng away for ~ tnat was ont. MOST. q
us looked askance g the new powder, aud
when Uncle baliy urdmes prophesied that the
camp would 20 blown mp with the stun or
81 poisoned with its fnnes, as his partner
had had ct Red gulch, we made the Jumping
Jehoshaphat boys move il out Of harms way.
So when q blast went on one fine morning,
when nobody was expecting il, and laid out
I'VE Of the best men IN the camp, We were all
Ablo' 70 1ay, II told you so,' az we rushed up
70 the claim. s
The camp was intensely excited, for these
were tho first deaths since ne came III, not
counting two sluice robbers and horse thief
that Eve had hung for luck. We stood Of q
little bit, for no one but tho five boys in the
pit know whether there were half q dozen
more to 60 Oh. But We sailed in pretty soo,,
and hauled out what was left Of the boys,
and y was sight to make You sick. We
were pretty badly cut up about 1t, and when
No had cleaned them up and laid them out
decently in their cabin we went down In
front OF Dutch Dawes saloon, and 81 Haw-
kins called the meeting to order.
BOYS. he said, in q husky voice, we've
got our first chance to start graveyard and
no town ever had a better. Them boys thar,
and ne 1erked his thumb over his shoulder,
would do any graveyard proud. and we ought.
TO start EN- on In style. It's rotten shape
If We don't give 'em tho best send of the
markets got, and d--n the expense
.We cheered the sentiment, in spite Of the
occasion, and he continued: What we want
to do is TO send for collins ANY lnan that's
In favor OF this sentiment, can just walk up
here and plank down his dust n
mo one could refuse this appeal; and the
needed sum was soon raised. An order was
written to the Simpsonville undertaken and
given to the driver Of the down stage, with
the verbal message:
If they amt here by to-morrer night a
committee Of ther boys'll DO down thar ter
find out why, an they'll need their collins tor
hum .-.st
about sunset next evening a wagon
turned off the main road and came into
camp. 1t brought tho collins. They were
unloaded, one after the other, and shone with
all the splendor that fresh yarnish could give
them. st. .I
"'Thar's style Tor ye," said Hawkins, With
pardonable pride. "How tho boys would an
JOY 'em il they were here. BY the Lord
Harryr he shouted, suddenly, there's six
here. Who ordered sixr
"Jim Davis was the man that wrote tho LET
ter. BE turned death)y male and said: sBy
-, there's bad luck coming. There's a
sixth man in this crowd. I ordered five
cof1ns, an that extra one hasn't come for
nothing.
"There was sudden silence, and the most
of tho crowd turned as pale as Jim. ibid look
| mighty plausible that that there cofIin was
looking for some one, and each man felt an
uncomfortable suspicion that he was the one.
The only ono that was bold enough to resent
| tho idea was Five Fingered Jack, who had
been born with fivc fingers on his left hand,
and had evened matters up by shooting of
his thumb. =
"'You're a good one, Jinl,' he says, you're
| the scholard of the crowd, but you can't write
straight yet -
"'See hero said Jim, getting riled, Il ant
no scholaul, but I don't knnckle down to no
! man when it comes to ortlerin collins, ken
copy of the letter, sot The undertaken don't
cut any shines with U.S. He pulled out the
letter, and hc had written five a. plain as lifc
"sThat coffin has como for one of us, he
continued, am it means business. It stands
| to reason that when coffin travels twenty
five miles it's goin' to git its man, :.
/ "We gathered round, looking about us
solemn as we felt, and some of the boys kept
looking over their shoulders suspicious like
to tho cabin whore tho dead men lay, rs
though they were afraal tho night might
encourage 'ein to como out an pick their
company for the next days journey.
Isl Hawkins tried to pump the fellow that
drove tho team up to the camp, but l,a didn't
know anything ebouti it. Tie cofIi.ls had been
loaded ikby the undertaken, and he brought
them up as they were given to him. So
Hawkins told Us to como into Dutch Dawes,
and tho boys began to get their courage out
of u bottle, in tie natural way. As they got
livenetl up they began to joke about their
fears and recommend candidates for tho
vacant llCnOr. s.=t.n.s-.-s.
sNebbe It's inter the Teller what stole
Simpsons horsc;' said Five Fingered Jack, in
nsort of bantering tone. 'Ef he's ketched
he'll need it mighty ba.l.'
"rhc crowd ]aughed-aN but Jim. He took
It seriously and tried to argue the matter.
He wort git 10 coffin he said. He'll be
lucky ter git buried at oil. Yc can laugh all
yer want ter. but there's goin' to no six
funerals tomorrow instid Of livc.'
".Thers . dead coyote q little ways up thy
gulch. Mvbbe ye'd like ter plant him along
with the boys,' continued Jack, hooking
him. =. % e.
"JiM began to get his back up Thar
Hear that ho said. It was only tho boot Of
the mountain owl, but it's enough to give a
dead man the cold sl;ivrs il he's feeling u
little of color. Hear thatl Ef that doesn't
again. : ~ s''"I '> " '''
/ nously. Yere wuss nor a boot owl yersclf
| 4; scar.sl 100, like YOU is a regular Jonah in
camp Ye,i l,re~k it up in week ct yc had
yer way 4
"'Who's a scare.l foolF says Jim, firing ur
nk ~ " ti''s eock; 4
..v ou u, s'1s s' IN. T.. 80 ggse7*e,s
ar,. ~ M saS :. o mn,
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